We take a quick look into the life of Kikkoman Masters 2018 finalist Liam Grime.
Name: Liam Grime
Age: 31
Current Restaurant: RAF Benson (Captain of CSCAT – Combined Services Culinary Arts Team)
Previous Restaurants: RAF Odiham
Hometown: Preston
Favourite Hobbies: Football (Liverpool Fan) & Fishing
Favourite Cookbook: 11 Madison Park
Favourite Kitchen Gadget: Pestle & Mortar
Kikkoman Masters Dishes -
Starter: Citrus cured salmon, salmon Belly Tartar, wasabi Puffed Wild Rice, onion & chervil dressing, 0% fat yogurt, toasted pine nuts, pickled radish, asparagus, salmon skin crisp.
Main: Seaweed crusted saddle of lamb, pan roasted celeriac, celeriac purée, sesame torched purple sprouting broccoli, purple carrots, soy and lamb Jus
What is your first food memory: Mums Cooking - we always as a family use to sit down together round the table and have dinner..
Did you grow up in a cooking family? Yes, it was my Mum that got me in to cooking as she is a chef.
Who influenced your cooking the most: I have taken a lot of influence from various people throughout my career people such as Tom Kerridge, Nathan Outlaw, Simon Hulstone and Daniel Clifford.
Why did you become a chef? When I was about 15 I got a part time job as a KP in the local restaurant and watching the chefs during service interested me so much, the buzz that they seemed to get, and I guess I wanted that buzz so that’s why I became a chef.
Where did you train? I attended Preston Collage for my NVQ and then worked in various establishments training with the chefs on the shop floor.
What did you want to be when you grew up? When I was in school I always wanted to be a vet until I experienced my first restaurant kitchen.
Who are your favourite chefs? Tom Kerridge & Nathan Outlaw.
Other than your restaurant, what is your favourite restaurant? I have experienced loads of restaurants but one I would love to go to is 11 Madison so I guess that would be my favourite.
What music do you enjoy cooking to: When cooking, I love to listen to music and it must be upbeat. I guess my go to would be trance music.
What was the last book you read? I’m not a big reader; however, I’m always flicking through cook books so I guess the last one I read would have been Ocean Voyage.
What is your favourite ingredient (apart from Kikkoman Soy Sauce): I love working with chocolate as there’s so much you can do with it.
What do you think is the next food trend: I think the next trends will be food waste. I love the challenge of being able to use all parts of the products in various ways and coming up with new ideas to utilise the whole product.
What food is your guilty pleasure? I have always loved Italian food; I love different styles of pasta and my absolute go to has to be a pizza.
Is there one food you really don’t like? I am very open to try all things when it comes to food but I guess if I was to choose one it would have to be water chestnuts.
Worst kitchen nightmare? Each day has its ups and downs in a kitchen. There’s been some real hard days but I feel as chefs we have that mentality of getting the job done and we never want to let anyone down.
Most memorable meal? The best meal I can remember was when I was in Thailand and I chose a parrot fish and the chef took it away and cooked it various ways and brought it to use. The flavour from the various dishes he produced was amazing and so different and it all came from the same fish.
Last meal on earth? This is a hard one but I guess If I had to choose my last meal it would have to be a spread of tapas so I could have a little bit of everything.
